I think we should change the name. We want to promote the Forest, the gallery is an important part of it, so it seems logical to me that it should have a name that includes the word Forest, like The Forest Gallery (just an example, but maybe not so bad).

Obviously, as Jo has pointed out, Totalkunst carries some weight in the local arts scene, and should continue to be used in some capacity. It's worth discussing. Jo, any comments?

I would also like to see a discussion about how we can integrate the gallery better with the rest of Forest and avoid the communication problems we've had in the past. For example:

In the future the committee should be involved in picking the people who run it. We interview people for the posts that involve a lot of responsibility, why not this one?

The gallery should report what it's doing at every committee meeting to ensure better coordination of events.

The committee should have more insight into how the gallery budget is spent.

You're right, and happily this seems to be the direction we are moving in. I don't see the need for a separate name for the gallery. But what would TK be? Would it still exist? Perhaps it should continue as an arts collective that is separate from the forest. This could be cool. The forest could run the gallery and TK could do more crazy renegade guerilla art stuff around the city. In that case, I would suggest TK and the forest become completely separate from each other from the point of view of anyone looking from the outside.

I've no idea how Total Kunst interacts with the Forest.
Always thought it was one and the same.
Although I never gave it much thought.
I'm sure there are issues that need to be worked there.
But with said ignorance I still kinda find the gallery being called The Forest Gallery a bit dreary.
Whereas Total Kunst is an ace name.

The fact that the website http://www.totalkunst.com/ has been down for ages and no-one seems to be in charge of this is one example.

Also the funding for the gallery rent, materials, promo etc. all comes from the central funds as far as I know....raised entirely by the kitchen and volunteers, so there should be more working together for sure.

I think back in the day TK was set up by a group of active people to give them more autonomy to do as they wished. All very noble and good. But I wonder if TK actually exists anymore? Is it just a name or is there more to it than that? Who exactly is active in TK at the moment? Is there a sub-committee? Do you have meetings? Should we try and get more people involved?

We axed the gallery budget a few weeks ago in a meeting. Basically, there is a max of £100 available each month, but kunsters should not go out of their way to spend it all. No carry over. Projects costing more than £100 need to be approved in the usual way.

In answer to your questions, Gareth, the people who seem to be active at the moment are Jo, Alice and myself. I've seen Marcin and Kasia around, and they seem to think that they are still calling the shots, but this I find ludicrous.
It would be good to get more people involved. When there are others there will also be meetings and hopefully peer crits and fun things.

i think Kunst is a stupid name. a lame cunt joke. i think kunst is a great email group but has nothing to do with the forest and i think we have proven that there is loads of sophisticated art talent within the forest and that WE are capable of running the gallery and don't need a list of 100 to make it official or whatever.

the fact that the website is down seems to mean it don't matter. I say we call it FAG. or FAC.

and the people who are here run it. goood discussion to have at meeting.
r

It jars if you're German (correct me) and its continental snobbery really grates against the Forest. I say the name goes the way of the mexican burger. Maybe we can use something that next to The Forest makes it sound less tree-huggy without being so above-it-all. Let's all hazard a few in time for Sunday.

As for running of the gallery, why are we discussing this so obliquely? It was brought up with Jo several meetings ago and I thought those present left confident in their plans for the budget and the space as a whole. Alice has been promoting the gallery to artists for the festival. We also said there's no pressure to have exhibits constantly running if there's nothing worthy on offer. Autonomy is alive. Do we not have enough on our hands as it is? Talk with them.

I agree that it sucks the artists never have any involvement in the Forest: I haven't met a single one I didn't already know, but we've always had a right to the space. I don't think anyone's intimidated, it's just the perennial problem of the hardest workers at the Forest not being left enough time or energy to be creative. That's gotta change.

I still maintain Total Kunst is a great name.
But I'm overtly fond of puns and humour wise given to arse.
Which is why Forest Art Gallery (FAG) pleases me also.
Of course the next logical step would be
Forest Art Gallery Group On Tour (FAGGOT)
with a touring exhibition.
I also had it that a good name would be
the Untitled Gallery or sans titre.
But the best of all I like Neil's idea
The Laura Smith Gallery

here are some of the things i wanted to talk to you all about re the gallery and how i plan to do things.

1. there is very little need for a big buget every month, and it shouldnt carryover, i believe it once did. the gallery just doesnt need that kind of money, nor would it be right for it to get it. and obviously

2. there should be free communication between the gallery guys and everyone else, as forest people, we should all know as much as poss. whats going on in the place. i also think the gallery people need to be doing other jobs around the forest too, cafe shifts etc. and attending the meetings, ahem.....see top of page.

3. as for the name, it seems to me that its not actually the name that causes or has caused dischord between the gallery and the rest of the forest. the problem of TK seeming like a separate entity has been due to a lack of communication between these bodies.

i dont see how changing the name of the gallery would promote the forest as all correspondance/ publicity etc from TK states clearly that is part of/ in the forest.
by putting on really good shows, i want to get good artwork on display and i want to bring people to the forest who never knew about us or more importantly ever thought of coming in. that i think is what is important and what the gallery should be about.

would the cave going to loose its name and be the forest recording studio if this was to be enforced ?
it keeps things interesting to give areas of the bigger picture there own names.

4. i am trying to get the whole website situation ap and running. mikey is looking for the disks and i am slowly trawling through a build-your-own -website book. ive had 2 possibles re helping me make a site but that wont be until mid june at the earliest.

5. the tk group is aa irritating problem. im presently trawling through it, inspired by ryan's message on our site. im making a facistic cull of all the twats who waste mailbox space writting shite. hopefully it will become an interesting arena for chatting about art and such likes. this may take a wee bit of time though.

6. i have spent the last four months sourcing really good artists for this space. it is fully booked until dec/ jan. at anytime if anyone wants to know about there work, give me a shout.

8. finally, im concerned about august.....
whats the script with the stage idea? why, when a stage in the cafe is probably more appropriate? and do we have a months worth of good performers to show?

Sure,
the problem with TK didn't all boil down to the name, but I do think that the name is slightly misleading. THe fact that the gallery belongs to the Forest being mentioned on flyers etc. is not enough. How many people will actually read that? We want them to instantly associate the gallery with Forest, it's a psychological thing.
The comparison with the Cave does not work. The Cave is not a way to promote the Forest to the public, the gallery is.

...4. i am trying to get the whole website situation ap and running. mikey is looking for the disks and i am slowly trawling through a build-your-own -website book. ive had 2 possibles re helping me make a site but that wont be until mid june at the earliest....

i was on TK about getting the website sorted for months, then gave up.
i offered to:

1. talk directly with the people who own the domain and get it back into TK ownership2. if that couldn't be done. to help buy totalkunst.org and restart the website there3. rebuild the website on forest.org.uk/totalkunst as a temporary solution4. help with any web tutoring

none of this was followed thru on.
i offer serveral - several times, even talking with aaron about the same matters.

as i see it, all of those offers still stand. you just gotta ask.
else ... good luck:)

That way the food, the art and the gestapo are all welcome and we have a cool short nickname, "The Triple K" so we can say things like "strange things are afoot at The Triple K" maintaining the stoner vibe.

Well this was a nice thread to rediscover. While I think TotalKunst = great name, there were some other good ones in here which maybe we could use in Forest X related things? Lorna Smith? FAG? Rantypants?

D x

Our big brother's got no heart,
when I get my chance I'm going to punch him in the nose, in the nose, in the nose

Interesting thread- i think espescially since the gallery group seems to have moved again from having several members who are actively involved with FWG/ forest issues to a point where the majority of members' main interest is solely the gallery.

We have moved from a budget that was in suspense, to realising that it had been reinstated some time ago. Personally i feel that the quality of the shows and administration of the gallery actually greatly improved over the period of no budget and it is clear that the amount previously budgeted for was over and above the amount necessary.

I obviously think the gallery is a great part of the forest but sometimes the idea of increasing division or independence from the Forest as a whole causes me some concern- I'm interested to hear what people think about this because i wouldn't want the situation to be

There's a danger in that, as we've seen. TK was full of people who were not otherwise involved or interested in the Forest. They did not volunteer, but happily spent money made by Forest volunteers.

As for the name, i've never really liked 'TotalKunst' but it always persisted, a hereditary condition.

FAG = great, would be nice to see this in bold letters on the windows.i think it is good for the gallery collective to remain autonomous but it is also essential that people involved also are involved and communicate with the working group etc, this does not seem to have been an issue for a while as Simone and Martin helped with this. Also by the nature of having to be in the space Mirja, Stephen and Michael have not exactly been strangers.I think this again highlights the need to have some sort of quarterly meeting where everyone gets together to eat cake etc for an afternoon, not a meeting as such but something else. sorry this is such a dry postl but i am a little drunk

yeah i totally agree, i think (at least from my Damascene veiwpoint) that the gallery is doing really well, and loads of the issues brought up here resolved themselves independently. I just wanted to highlight the names...

D x

Our big brother's got no heart,

when I get my chance I'm going to punch him in the nose, in the nose, in the nose

on a historical note the old tk yahoo group makes for interesting reading http://groups.yahoo.com/group/totalkunst/ . A nice representation of what was happening between 2003-2006 . not only of tk's history but of surrounding culture that interacted with the group . the posts of richard whiston and sally felt are of particular interest as is the discusstion about the name totalkunst .

Its a shame that most of the attachments have been culled , a number of the minutes from meeting are lost and flyers for shows . I suspect our bb does the same with attachments as recently i was looking for an attachment in pm and its was gone ! , forums and mail groups inherently become potentially valuable documents as are the past web sites .